Because what remains for us from early Near Eastern civilizations are walls and idols of stone, we tend to imagine progress as ever lower barriers and ever less paganism. From a terrifying regime of exploitation and human sacrifice, humanity moves forward, the walls recede, and the gods are tamed. But those appearances might well be deceptive. Cities as old as those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were designed in concentric circles, like the rings of a tree, with no visible sign of organized worship or hierarchy. Although it would be a mistake to draw too firm conclusions, we should keep our
...more
